Senators not in favor of mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations

Senators Kiko Pangilinan, Risa Hontiveros, and Senate President Vicente Sotto III expressed their disapproval of calls for the government to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations in hopes that this would accelerate the country's vaccination drive.

The Department of The Interior and Local Government (DILG) proposed over the weekend to “disincentivize” the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) who are still not getting their jabs against COVID-19.

In response, Pangilinan said that the 4Ps should “be implemented without conditions” as recipients need the subsidy for their families.

“Ayaw ba ng mga tao magpabakuna? Parang ang isyu ng mababang vaccination rate ay availability ng bakuna at tiwala ng mga tao sa brand ng bakuna. Getting vaccinated is a personal decision. Ang dapat gawin ng gobyerno ay kumbinsihin ang mga taong piliin ang magpabakuna,” he said in a statement.

(Do people not want to get vaccinated? As I see it, the low vaccination rate stems from the availability of the vaccines and the people’s lack of trust in the vaccine brand. The government should encourage the people to get vaccinated as it is a personal decision.)

Pangilinan also said that the government should let the barangays handle the vaccination program according to their jurisdiction including identifying unvaccinated residents, scheduling the vaccination day, and coordinating with the respective local government units.

“Incentivize, not penalize. Hindi dapat pinagkakait ang ayuda. Hindi solusyon ang alisan ng pangkain ang tao,” he added.

(The recipients should not be deprived of financial assistance. Taking away their source of food is not the solution.)

Hontiveros agreed, saying that this kind of proposal would not help the underprivileged. Furthermore, there was no condition in Republic Act 11310 or the “4Ps Law” stating that the recipients needed to be vaccinated to get benefits.

“Conditions under [it] are fixed and conditionalities may be suspended because we're still under a state of calamity until September 2022. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Health (DOH) should work together with parent leaders to continue their efforts to promote health and wellness by encouraging 4Ps to get vaccinated, instead of making it a conditionality,” she said in a statement.

In this way, Hontiveros believed that the unvaccinated would find the courage to get their COVID jabs.

“Nung simula ay wala pa sa 40% ng mga taga Metro Manila ang gustong magpabakuna. Ngayon ay lampas 80% na ang nagpabakuna. Basta’t maayos ang paliwanag at may tiwala sa magpapaliwanag, magpapabakuna naman ang mga Pilipino,” she added.

(At the start, there are only less than 40% of Metro Manila residents who want to get vaccinated. Now, over 80% have already been inoculated. As long as there is a proper explanation and the Filipinos trust those who explain, they will get themselves vaccinated.)

On the other hand, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto called on the government to implement a proper information program instead of mandating vaccinations, citing the cases of Las Piñas and Quezon City where vaccination drives were succeeding.

Asked if he was in favor of mandatory vaccinations, he said, “Last time I heard we are still a democracy. Kung ayaw ng kababayan natin? Ako, payag ako sa akin, eh nagpa immunization ako, ‘di ba? Nagpa-vaccine ako. Meron tayong mga kababayan na ayaw, bakit mo pipilitin?”

(What if our countrymen don't want to get vaccinated? As for me, I'm all for getting vaccinated and had myself immunized. However, we have countrymen who don’t want to do so, so why would you force them? Last I heard we are still a democracy.)

Sotto added that forcing people to get vaccinated may trample on their civil rights.

“Siguro, ang tanong, o, mandatory ano ang gagawin ninyo kung ayaw? Ipasagot natin yan sa hearing namin, ano ang gagawin ninyo pag ayaw, ikukulong ninyo?” he asked.

(The important question is what will the government do if the people don’t want to get vaccinated? Will you put them behind bars? We want them to answer this during the hearing.)

Free COVID-19 tests

In a radio interview, Sotto also mentioned that swab and antigen tests for  COVID-19 should be free of charge. He explained that some people do not want to get tested specifically because of the expensive test rates ranging from P1,000-P3,000.

“Isipin mo yun, tatlong libo? Aba, ang bigat noon. Yung limang daan, ang bigat sa kababayan natin, tatlong libo pa?”

(Think of it, P3,000? That's a burden. Even the P500 for regular Filipinos is already expensive, what more if it's P3,000?)

Last year, the DOH mandated COVID-19 testing laboratories nationwide to charge patients no more than P5,000 for private laboratories and P3,800 for public laboratories. Those who would overcharge above these price caps would be penalized.

On 2022 budget

Asked about his stance on the proposed 2022 budget since he and Senator Ping Lacson could be the ones implementing the programs and projects for the second half of 2022 should they win the elections, Sotto said that they would see to it that the plan to get the Philippines headed towards recovery would be seriously implemented.

“Dapat yung recovery program madiin, pagkatapos ‘yung tamang pag-gamit at pag-gastos para hindi nagkakaroon ng mga unused, at para hindi rin nagkakaroon ng mga mapapagbintangan na maling pag-gamit, ‘di ba?”

(The recovery program should be firmly implemented, and the funding for it should be used correctly so there aren't any unused funds. This is also to avoid the accusations of budget misspending.)

Sotto emphasized that when he gets elected as the next vice president, the Filipinos can be assured that his budget reform advocacy will come from the “bottom-up” and not initially from the top, as some presidents have done in the past.

“Dapat alisin yun, tigilan na yung ‘imperial Manila’ na yan. Tigilan na yung national government lang ang nakakaalam at may hawak ng pondo. Kailangan nasa mga kababayan natin. Ganoon ‘yung makikita. Gusto namin sana, sa 2022 budget, ganoon na,” he said.

(That should get rid of "imperial Manila." We want to put an end to the national government exclusively having control of the funding. It should be with the Filipinos. That is what we want to see in the 2022 budget.)

The proposed P5.024-trillion national budget for 2022 was already passed by the House of Representatives on September 30. — DVM, GMA News